After obtaining a double degree in Law and Philosophy at Leiden University in 2014, I knew I loved research and working with researchers. However, I was not so sure a fulltime position in academia would be my thing. Since I love both studying and building and optimizing organisations, I did not want to leave academia but I also didn’t want the chance to work in (social) business slip. Therefore, I decided to do internships at SMO and the Erasmus Centre for Entrepreneurship and learn about working with research and researchers in different settings. I quickly learned how much entrepreneurs and researchers can learn from each other and discovered my passion for valorisation: using research to make a positive societal and economic impact. But still, I wanted to do research myself too and decided that finding your dream job is nearly impossible, but creating it is not. After some hard work and relentless perseverance, I am now a parttime PhD student in Philosophy of Economics at the Erasmus University, member of the management team of SMO, and founder and program manager of SMO Promovendi; a group of +- 40 PhD students and student assistants from universities all over the Netherlands working on wicked societal challenges in healthcare and circular economy. Combining these different positions is not always easy, but very rewarding and simply perfect for me.

Description of the workshop

Knowledge Valorisation, applying scientific research to make both economic and societal impact, is a hot issue in the Netherlands. But what is valorisation exactly and how can you make your own research valuable for society?
SMO is the think tank for the Netherlands since 1968. Based on multidisciplinary research, SMO connects and activates stakeholders to work on wicked societal challenges and make the necessary transitions for a sustainable future. SMO works within five theme’s: Education & Research, Healthcare, Innovation & Entrepreneurship, Sustainability and the Labor Market. Working with researchers of all levels, from students to professors from universities all over the Netherlands, SMO has build a strong reputation on valorisation and is renowned for its new ways of bringing researchers, policy makers and entrepreneurs together. In this workshop, we’ll talk about valorisation and discuss how you can apply your academic knowledge and skills for the good of the society and even make a job out of it! Hope to see you there!
For more information on the programme of National PhD Day 2016, go to the programme page.